The Rev. Miguel Ceja, of Riverside's Our Lady of Perpetual Help, said a “good Catholic” cannot vote for Donald Trump.

Pope Francis walks with the pastoral staff during a mass in Ecatepec, Mexico on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered as Pope Francis celebrated Mass, expected to be the biggest event of his five-day trip to Mexico.

Scott Mann, mayor of Menifee and chairman of the Republican Party of Riverside County, said he doesn't think the pope's comments will create a conflict for politicians who consider themselves Christian, yet advocate a strong stance on border security.

Elizabeth Almanza, who was raised in an evangelical Christian church, was eventually drawn to the Catholic Church for its social justice work with the immigrant community.

Sergio Luna, an organizer with Inland Congregations United for Change, said people of faith should stand for humanity and the common good of people.

The Rev. Miguel Ceja, of Riverside's Our Lady of Perpetual Help, said a “good Catholic” cannot vote for Donald Trump.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts as he makes a joke about Pope Francis as he arrives for a CNN town hall at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016.

Pope Francis’ comments challenging Donald Trump’s Christianity are not expected to sway the Catholic vote in November, some experts say, but to some Inland Catholics working for immigrant rights, the pontiff’s words ring true.

“Can a good Catholic vote for Donald Trump? I would say, ‘No,” said the Rev. Miguel Ceja, of Riverside’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. “When I think of the historical Jesus, he was all about justice, love, peace, truth.”

Claiming to be a Christian and standing against those values is a contradiction, said Ceja, an advocate for immigrant rights.

“How can you be a Christian and be for division and oppression?” Ceja added.

The pope, as he returned to Rome from a six-day visit to Mexico, said, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” in response to a question about Trump.

Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties, was on the Texas side of the border for the Papal Mass in Juarez and would not issue a statement about the pope’s comments, diocese spokesman John Andrews said Thursday, Feb. 18.

Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, doesn’t think the pontiff’s words will impact how Catholics vote.

“Catholic opinion on political issues don’t hinge on what the pope says,” Pitney said.

For example, Pitney said there are Catholics who are pro-life, though. Pope Francis and the Vatican has stood against abortion.

“Conversely in the U.S., we’ve had many Catholic leaders who are pro-choice (such as) Vice President Joe Biden,” Pitney said.

Biden has said his Catholicism teaches that life begins at conception but that he would not impose that belief on people of other faiths.

Chris Robles, head of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party and a Catholic, said: “Each person has to be true to themselves and their relationship with God, rather than somebody else’s label.”

“There is some validity in someone who says they espouse all those values and then does something different from that,” he said. “I call myself Catholic. That doesn’t mean I follow everything …”

“However, if I was to say that I believe in certain values and then I don’t hold true to those, then that’s a fair judgment.”

As for Scott Mann, mayor of Menifee and chairman of the Republican Party of Riverside County, he doesn’t think the pope’s comments will create a conflict for politicians who consider themselves Christian, yet advocate a strong stance on border security.

“He’s just expressing his opinion based on his faith,” said Mann, who identifies as an evangelical Christian. “Whether it’s scripturally based or not, I don’t think anyone will have any problem reconciling which side of the debate they fall on.”

Recalling his time in the military when the Berlin Wall came down, Mann said he opposes the idea of building a wall at the U.S. Mexico border.

“I do not believe that a wall on our southern border is conducive to the high ideals of what America stands for,” he said. “Now that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t secure the border by other means.”

For others, being Catholic aligns with social justice, and that means fighting for immigrant rights.

Elizabeth Almanza, who was raised in an evangelical Christian church, was eventually drawn to the Catholic Church for its social justice work with the immigrant community.

Almanza said she’s encouraged when the Church acts on such issues – like helping the unaccompanied children who fled their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

“Donald Trump may say he is a Christian but his actions and words do not express the kind of love that God has for us,” said Almanza, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Colton.

“I would remind Trump that Jesus once said, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ That includes undocumented immigrants,” Almanza added.

Sergio Luna, an organizer with Inland Congregations United for Change, agrees.

The interfaith group – which includes Inland Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant congregations – has advocated for immigrant rights.

“Regardless of what your faith is, if we don’t stand for humanity and the common good of people, we’re not practicing our faith values,” Luna said.

Alejandra Molina writes about immigration, race, and religion for the Southern California News Group. In her decade-long career, she has reported how gentrification has affected downtown Santa Ana, how racism contributes the high black infant death rate, and how President Donald Trump is impacting undocumented communities across Southern California.

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